Game Markets in the Middle East Opportunities and

Game Markets in the Middle East: Opportunities and Challenges Mahmoud Khasawneh – CEO Quirkat Oded Sharon – CEO Corbomite Games

Mahmoud Ali Khasawneh • CEO • IGDA Middle East Chapter Leader • 20+ years of industry experience, formerly CIO Government of Jordan and Director of E-Government Programme • 6+ years of Middle East games industry experience.

Oded Sharon • CEO of Corbomite Games • 12 Years of experience as Game Developer • Adventure and Action-Adventure games, Casual and mobile Games, and songs for Rock Band. • IGDA Chapter coordinator Israel (Game. IS) • Too many hobbies.

MIDDLE EAST OVERVIEW

Region and Demographics • Region spans 22 Arab countries and Israel • One of the fastest growing markets • Mostly overlooked by game developers and publishers

Mahmoud Ali Khasawneh ARAB MARKET OVERVIEW

The Arabic Speaking Middle East • Population approaching 400 M • 75 M+ internet users • ~40 million mobile phones sold (3 rd quarter 2010) (source: Gartner) – 214, 886, 500 mobile subscriptions – 200% penetration in richer GCC states • More than 180 M people under the age of 25

Video Game Market Data • Market size ~$1 billion (various sources) • users - 15% of global traffic (October 2010) • KSA: 63% of internet users play online games (source: Arab Advisors Group)

Platforms millions Game titles sold

Piracy • Estimated by the BSA at 59% • Same title on PS 3 will outsell XBOX 360 version at 7: 1 ratio (source: Red Entertainment) • Online authentication, subscription, ‘always online’ & other DRM solutions • Pirates vs. Piracy Consumers?

Localization Efforts to Date • Sony: Wall-E, Start the Party, This is Football • Asian MMO’s in the Middle East – – Rushed translations Bandwidth optimization issues Storyline & artistic relevance & acceptability RESULT: Short term success • ‘Partnerships’ for effective market entry

More Localization Efforts • Arabian Lords - PC – Strategy/City builder – language intensive – Collaboration between Quirkat and US-based Breakaway Games – Topped regional charts • Basha – Sony PSP – First Arab PSP games – Popular card games

Tackling the Arabic Speaking Market – Regional Sensibilities • 50% of internet searches for Islamic content – Other 50% is for provocative video clips • online games > pornography, says Google

Tackling the Arabic Speaking Market – Regional Sensibilities • Hand of God – Mythic Palace • Little Big Planet misunderstanding • Censorship patterns

Tackling the Arabic Speaking Market – Content Relevance • Besides suitability, localization for the region heavily depends on relevance – – Thanksgiving, Halloween and other holidays Diners Music and visual pop culture Cinemas and movie tie-ins

Tackling the Arabic Speaking Market – Technical and Linguistic Considerations • Unicode / UTF 8 • UI space allocation for translated assets – lessons from Arabian Lords • Similarly, audio lengths, in-game video, timing, lip synching • Many dialects vs. classical/spoken Arabic – No references

Tackling the Arabic Speaking Market – Payment and Monetization • Credit cards not prevalent, cash oriented society • Regional prepaid payment card solutions – International games developers/aggregators need to integrate these solutions • Example: $40 M annual revenue from games on One. Card • Mobile payment still exists, but not sustainable

Localization Vs. Made-for-Mid. East • Local Content vs. Local Delivery – Localization, Arabization, Culturalization? ? • A well made title will perform if, you can ‘kick it, drive it or shoot it. ’ • RPG titles underperform hugely compared to the West – This is 100% because of the language barrier • We chose first Arabic title to be language intensive, strategy, to prove the point

Regional Game Dev Scene • IGDA Middle East • Dev hubs – – – Jordan UAE KSA Egypt Lebanon Morocco

Regional Opportunities • Region-wide IP game opportunities for development • Exponential growth in Internet user base and online usage • Exponential growth of console market and game success potential. • Expanding regional online payment methods

Regional Challenges • • • Internet penetration at homes/ internet cafes Regional investors don’t understand the industry Acceptability of content – religion + culture Piracy Payment methods Talent pool

Oded Sharon ISRAEL MARKET OVERVIEW

Israel General Photo by Ron Shoshani

Israel - General • Population: 7, 635, 600 Primary Languages: Hebrew 20% Arab 75% Jewish Arabic Secondary Languages: English (Taught as secondary) Russian (20% population)

Israel - General • High tech oasis – Highest number of start-ups per capita in the world • Lots of early innovators and entrepreneurs. • Most US VC's have branches in Israel. • "A computer for every child" 1995 initiative.

Israeli game industry • (Photos by and thanks to Nir Miretzky)

Israeli Game Industry • • IGDA Chapter formed in 2000 850 member in Facebook group "Game. IS“ 3 large conferences with 200 -500 participants. Monthly social gathering and chapter meetings.

Israeli Game Industry • Birthplace of the technology behind Kinect , – home of almost a dozen motion game companies. • Two major local retailer distributors/publishers: Hed-Artzi/NMC , Atari Israel

The Israeli gamer

The Israeli gamer profile Hardcore/Retail: Similar to European (mostly UK) and US gamer. Plays: Sports FPS Racing

The Israeli gamer profile Console Availably (Hardcore): ~4 M PC: No official retailer

The Israeli gamer profile Handheld / Mobile Availably (casual): ~3 M Facebook

The PC Israeli gamer profile Online games (Wo. W) Facebook (Farmville) Lots of piracy • According to Atari Israel - All annual retail game sales: $400 K-500 K • For single full price titles, average $20 K per single title.

Israel - sites, blogs, and marketing Sites Vgames, Gamer. co. il, Games. co. il, Nana 10. co. il, The. Gamers. TV Portals Tipo. co. il Blogs Hamishakia, Newsgeek, The Hebrew Quest, n 00 blog, gamesgirl. Forums & community Tapuz, giga beit Facebook groups. (full list at : http: //www. thegamers. tv/test/nir 3. html)

Vgames 2009 visitors survey (22 k people surveyed) male Sex female 7% Ages: <12 13 -17 18 -24 25 -34 >35 11% Interests Playing online games Forums Articles Downloads Game

Localization to Hebrew • Lots of local Hebrew content: TV, Media, books. • Non-Israeli books are translated to Hebrew. • Movies and TV are subtitled, not dubbed. • Games in Israel are played in English. • Most Israeli can understand English well.

Challenges in Translation to Hebrew: • Right to left • Missing or incompatible words • Double meanings • Phrases and idioms • Cultural references.

Localization != translation Not many examples of games translated to Hebrew in last decade. some do get subtitles, not in last 4 years. Titles for kids (E. G. Dora the explorer) do get translated to Hebrew.

Localized online titles Several Online games were localized and had big success : Travian. Icariam

Why lack of localized game? • No need? • No opportunity? • Only effective on big titles • Local entrepreneurs (myself included) are focused on markets outside Israel

Original Creations in Israel for Israelis Local success for titles by Local game developers: Piposh Gindis IAF Falafel king • Israeli Adver-games are always in Hebrew. • Religious and Bible games also in Hebrew, and interesting sub market.

Case study - Bamba Advergame based on one of Israel's most famous Brands "Bamba" which is a peanut butter flavoured snack. Free to play RPG using Bamba's kid mascot. 800 K Unique visitors, 4 M entries. Won "2009 Game. IS award" for best advergame. Trailer: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=NSEp. Qwa. EWls

Case study - Mogobe - Virtual world for kids ages 7 -12 Developed in Israel, and Israel was first launch country in July 09. By Jan 2010 was 2 nd Most popular site among children in Israel, after facebook. Localized around the world with languages, clothing, and location relevant themes. Penetration: 30% of target audience in Israel opened accounts. 40 K make transactions of $6. 5 each. Total revenue $280 K just in Israel.

Israel - Conclusions • • • Mostly PC gamers. Lots of young gamers, mobile and PC. Tech savvy, early innovators. English speakers. Influential Bloggers (worldwide). • Large and innovative developer community. • If you want to do a motion game with NI, you probably want to do business with Israeli companies.

Israel - Conclusions • Not necessary to translate to Hebrew in order to succeed. • Next-gen & online would benefit greatly if localized, even if it's only by adding subtitles. • Marketing to religious sections can be tricky.

Israel - Conclusions Tel-Aviv No Camels!

Conclusions: Middle East • Fast growing market • Lots of business opportunities • Religion and politics can be challenging

Q&A

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